“You’ve had a great year you know” her voice, although slightly tired for an early Saturday afternoon was as sweet as ever

Nicole was still serving as my cheerleader, personal motivator and best friend, “do you ever stop and actually celebrate your wins?” She asks, “erm, yeah…guess so” I haphazardly reply but she knows me well enough to see past that

“No, you don’t and that’s a shame. You should stop every once in a while and celebrate how far you’ve come” she continues “in fact, that should be the topic of your next blog”

“Good idea” I reply, “are you gonna credit me in the post?” She asks through a smile that I can picture even though I can’t see her (I’m not one for FaceTime, she wouldn’t mind) “why would I do that?” I retort and she let’s out her signature ‘Nicole laugh’ – our phone conversation continues as normal about our day to day lives but the point she made sticks with me

So here I am writing about celebrating the journey regardless of whether we’ve made it to our destination yet or not

Small victories are worthy of our self praise, celebrations and can actually help reinforce our self belief in what we are ultimately working to accomplish

This year, one of my feature films was selected for two film festivals. I completed a documentary that will be coming out in America (my first international project!) at the end of this year or early next year

I filmed a low budget feature film over the summer called ‘Insanity’ – a drama about break ups and break downs and that will soon be in the post production stages –

I’m writing my final film for 2018 that I hope to film in December as it’s Christmas themed – if I achieve that then I would of essentially made three feature length films this year

I also secured my first corporate contract for film making and although it’s still a current contract that I’ve yet to fulfil, my eyes have been opened to the possibilities out there for future corporate work centred around filmmaking

As an introvert I went out more this year than ever before. I still turn down most social invitations but now it’s because I’ve learned even more about myself and as stupid as it sounds coming from an introvert: I like my own company and like being alone for long periods of time

Theres also a bunch of other projects that are in various stages of development that I’m somehow involved in, directing, producing, project managing or what have you

So yes it’s been a very good year in some respects

Not to mention, this blog: although very slow in growing it, I at least stuck with my commitment to write a post daily. For the most part, I’ve kept up with that

Listing the above just reminds me of two things: 1) success is a science and you can get a lot done if you just try and apply yourself and you do it consistently

I don’t even feel or classify myself as successful (yet) but yet the results are slowly starting to build up

2) none of it will make you happy because happiness is an art, not a science. You can have the whole world and still feel soulless. Sometimes, this year I’ve felt the lowest I’ve ever felt because although I achieved ‘things’ – maybe I felt lonely, discouraged or plain unhappy with myself or my life

Relationships are were it’s at. Life feels sweeter when experienced with others

Anyone can purchase a house but it’s the people within it who will make it feel like a home

So celebrate your small wins, it’s part of the art of being a more fulfilled human being